Comedy Central ad isn’t about Mel Gibson

Judging by the headline, this Comedy Central ad, placed in Variety this week, would seem to reference the whole Mel Gibson fiasco. But as Defamer points out, it’s just a coincidence. The ad was approved weeks before Gibson’s arrest, and concerns a whole different religious brewhaha in Hollywood. Comedy Central placed it to congratulate South Park on getting an Emmy nomination for its Scientology-themed “Trapped in the Closet” episode—an episode whose reruns Tom Cruise (who was making a movie for Viacom) reportedly had yanked from the Comedy Central schedule in March. Trey Parker and Matt Stone submitted that episode for Emmy consideration as a rebuke of sorts to the Comedy Central brass, who decided to run with it.